Berhampur: There is one thing beyond the control of human beings – destiny. Strange are the ways of destiny, for it kills some and saves some. Human beings have no choice but to bow before it. On Friday, it favoured a 16-year-old boy who was travelling on the ill-fated Coromandel Express, as he decided not to go to his assigned seat in the train’s B8 coach.
George Jacob Das of Berhampur, who recently passed his matriculation, stayed with his parents in coach B2, which fortunately remained unaffected in the accident involving three trains. His father, Ezekiel Das (49), had planned to request the TTE to change his son’s seat to travel together. Otherwise, he would have gone back to his berth after dinner.
Ezekiel, a contractor of Goshaninuagaon area here was about to go to coach B8 to request the TTE to change his son’s set but his wife Sumita suggested that they go after dinner, which they would take when the train nears Cuttack. Later, they came to know that some passengers of coach B8 have been killed, while several others were injured in the accident
According to Ezekiel, while they were discussing changing his son’s seat, they hear a crashing sound and the train started to shake. People rammed into each other while women and children started crying. They came to know of the accident when the train came to a halt and some of them got down. Ezekiel was quoted as saying that he saw limbs strewn all around, while someone’s face was disfigured and people were running in the dark. He tried to help those trapped under the coaches. Ezekiel said they had gone to Kharagpur to attend a function on Thursday and was returning on the Coromandel Express when the accident took place.
